Cold Process Soap-Cold process soap is sometimes referred to as Lye Soap.It is made by mixing lye & water with different fats & oils. These fats can be animal or vegetable or a combination of both. We prefer to use only Olive Oil. When the lye is mixed with the olive oil they need to be mixed briskly until it starts to thicken or trace, this is when the saponification(which means to make soap) process begins to take place. At this stage the clay, scents and any exfoliants can be added.The mixture is stirred and poured into molds. The soap will continue to heat and the saponification will continue in the molds.The soap is left in the molds for 24- 48 hours before they are turned out of their molds and sliced into bars before racking for a least another 30 days for the saponificationprocess to come to completion.This allows for the bars to harden making them last much longer.

What isLye & Saponification?- I’ve been asked this many times at our market stalls. A simple way to explain this is to remember what Air is, 7 parts nitrogen and 3 parts oxygen, each having its own set of unique properties. When combined we have something that is completely different, pure Air that we all breathe! Pure water is mixed with caustic soda to produce lye. When lye or more specifically sodium hydroxide is mixed with pure water at the correct percentage, then allowed to cool to a certain temperature the lye (alkaline) is mixed with the oil & fats (triglyceride) and then it becomes a completely different substance, this is called saponification, it is no longer lye it is soap!!! Completely safe to use.

There are some arguments that soap can be made from a family of plants that naturally contain saponins. There is a thought that because they already exist in nature, they must be much safer to use then lye. We must remember that the extraction process is anything but simple, a method that requires microwaves or ethanol which then requires purification. By time all is complete it may be not as “natural”as we might like to think .I will continue to try up to stay up to date with this method.

What is a Handcrafted soap?-Sometimes we see soaps advertised at market stalls stating that their soaps are Handcrafted. These are not homemade soaps, the crafter did not create this soap from scratch and has no control of what ingredients make up the base. This is what is known as the melt-and-pour soaps. The crafter has purchased the base mix from a soap supplier and then goes on to melt this base add his own ingredients such as colour and fragrances to the mix and then pour the mixture into his own molds. These soaps do not require curing, they can be used straight from the mold. Often we can recognize these soaps by their bright colors which indicate that synthetic material may have been used.

Historic Cockatoo Grove is nestled on a tranquil bend of the upper Murray River, an Australian region synonymous with fine food and wine production. The Cockatoo Olive grove was established in 1996 with trees of Italian and Spanish origin chosen for their fine oil quality.

Cockatoo Grove use state of the art processing facilities. Their Premium Organic Olives are pressed within 4 hours of harvesting to ensure freshness and minimum possible free fatty acid levels, it is then packed and stored in oxygen free, light free environment.

After a long search and testing of various Organic Olive oils, here at AJ Bodycare decided that Cockatoo Grove offered all the benchmarks we set to commence our new range of Organic Olive oil Soaps. We are pleased to offer what we feel will be the best soap we have offered to date. Our first Soap is a scent free blend of Cockatoo Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Organic Shea Butter.

Look out for our 3 new soaps that will shortly be added to our Organic Range, keep watching our site for the coming new changes.

Nimbin Valley Dairy

AJBodycare now use Goats Milk sourced from Nimbin Valley Dairy situated in the lush country side of Northern NSW.

Why Nimbin Valley Dairy Goats Milk?

The Goats at Nimbin Valley spend their days grazing outdoors across 120 hectares of fertile green pastures. They have shelter from the rain and are happy to greet their milkers each morning at 5 am when it it’s time for milking. Their well being is a absolute priority, they don’t feed them any genetically modified food or anything else their owners wouldn’t be happy to eat themselves.

The goats have their own nutritionist who keep them happy, healthy and in top condition. Their diet is balanced with the correct amounts of protein, energy, minerals and vitamins.

Their health is checked regularly on each member of the herd and the goat is always rested from milking unto fully recovered if undergoing treatment. This is just one way their milk is kept free from chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and genetically modified ingredients.

Nimbin Valley Goat’s Milk is now used in the complete range of Goats Milk Soap in AJ Bodycare soaps, we feel confident that we have created the best Goats milk soap yet!

Essential Oils

AJbodycare source there Essential Oils for soap making from Sydney Essential Oil Company, why? because we find their classification system makes selecting the right oil to add to the soap easy. Sydney Oil have a grading rating of stars that place Essential oils in a star rating of 1 to 6, with one being the lowest rating and 6 being the highest rating.

Ratings of three and under are typically either made from 100% synthetic ingredients which Sydney Essential do not sell, or contain only 20% pure essential with the balance consisting of nature identically ingredients which at AJBodycare we do not use.

AJBodycare select their oils from the Three and a half rating and above.

Three and a half rating are 100% Pure Essential Oils.

They have been produced from the named Botanical Species, from one, two or more origins, and by the specified method of extraction. They contain no inputs, fillers or other technical additions. A great Oil for our Natural Soap Range.

Five Stars and above have been produced from the named Botanical Species, from one single origin, and by the same specified method of extraction, they have not been blended, a True Oil in all respects. You can be sure when you purchase any of our products or soaps you are receiving the best value we can offer you!